The Orlando Magic don't have -- and won't have -- team captains this season

Josh Robbins | Orlando Magic BasketBlogOrlando Sentinel

In a change from recent seasons, no player on the 2013-14 Orlando Magic roster has been designated a team captain.

Coach Jacque Vaughn didn’t name anyone a captain for this season, and he said he has no plans to do so in future weeks.

Vaughn indicated that he made the move for philosophical reasons.

“I think as I looked throughout the league and throughout my career of what a captain meant, I still could not put a perfect definition on it,” Vaughn said. “And if there’s no definition, then I don’t think I need to announce one.

“Is it the most-tenured guy? Is it the guy who stays after [practice] the longest and works on his game most? If I was a captain on another team, do I lose my captainship because I come to the Magic? So, there’s no solid definition, or at least I haven’t found it yet.”

Last season, Vaughn’s first as the Magic’s coach, he named point guard Jameer Nelson and power forward Glen Davis as co-captains. Prior to that, Nelson and Dwight Howard were the team’s co-captains.

Part of Vaughn’s reluctance to designate a team captain might stem from a belief that no single player should be elevated above another.

To be sure, Vaughn believes a player can be a team leader without being called a captain.

That said, not naming a team captain might have helped the Magic avoid potential headaches.

Choosing captains always runs the risk of bruising someone’s ego because someone deserving — or someone who thinks he is deserving — might be left out.